It’s hardly surprising that online searches for “greeting cards” and “turkey recipes” peak at this time of year.  An annual graph of French searches for “snowboard” is almost the exact opposite of the Australian one. But many people will be surprised by some of the seasonal trends in online searches in other countries.

If you’re thinking of dipping your toes in international web marketing, a little knowledge of seasonal trends can help target your efforts. It can also help avoid a cultural faux pas – or the equivalent of setting up a fireworks shop on November 6.

While most Europeans are thinking about Christmas cards now, Chinese web users tend to search for “greetings cards” around February and September. These coincide with Chinese New Year and the traditional Mid-Autumn festival.

And while Americans buy fireworks around July 4^th, Chinese interest peaks in February and in the run-up to October 1^st, when cities put on displays for National Day.

Chinese searches for "fireworks"

US searches

When we take holidays tends to vary depending on where we live. The French love their traditional long summer break, with online interest in “holidays” highest in August. But in Romania, more people take time off around Christmas and New Year, often to go skiing. And most Americans search for “holidays” around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

French searches for "holidays"

Romanian searches for "holidays"

Of course, cultural and religious factors are behind many of these trends. Israelis tend to send greetings cards in Spring (around Passover) while Indonesians buy them for Eid, the Muslim festival which was celebrated in November this year.

 In the United States they love to buy cards all year round, whether it’s Mother’s Day, Grandparents’ Day or Halloween. But the French and Hungarians have little interest in the so-called “Hallmark holidays”, with the vast majority of cards sold around Christmas.

If you’re planning to market your business overseas, research into local and cultural trends can give you a headstart. Lingo24’s Foreign Language Internet Marketing services include search demand analysis, pinpointing popular keywords in overseas markets. They can also identify seasonal trends - and find new sales opportunites.

tags: foreign language internet marketing, search engine marketing, seasonal trends